Vanguard funds for Canadian investors

Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment-management companies. It manages over $1 trillion U.S. in 150 mutual funds.

Vanguard, which went into business in 1975, offers low-fee index mutual funds. Generally speaking, Canadians can’t buy units of mutual funds that are registered in… Read More

Fidelity buys for North American gains

FIDELITY CANADIAN LARGE CAP FUND $24.05 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Fidelity Investments Canada, 483 Bay St., Suite 200, Toronto, Ont. M5G 2N7. 1-800-263-4077; Web site: www.fidelity.ca. Load fund — available from brokers) mainly invests in large firms, like those on the S&P/TSX 60 index, although it… Read More

AIC AMERICAN ADVANTAGE FUND $4.04

AIC AMERICAN ADVANTAGE FUND $4.04 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (AIC Group of Funds, 1375 Kerns Road, Burlington, Ont., L7R 4X8, 1-800-263-2144; Web site: www.aicfunds.com. Buy or sell through brokers) invests mostly in U.S. stocks. It holds 99% of its assets in the financial-services area.

The fund’s financial… Read More

Two AIC funds with a finance focus

These two AIC funds hold much of their portfolios in finance stocks. This sector has risen lately on better-than-expected profits and an improved outlook for the economy as a whole.

We prefer diversified funds. But if you must focus on a particular sector, finance still offers… Read More

Our two favourite funds from Universal

UNIVERSAL CANADIAN GROWTH FUND $17.65 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Mackenzie Financial Corp., 150 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B5. Web site: www.mackenziefinancial.com. Tel: 1-800-387-0780; Load fund: available from brokers) holds companies that its managers believe have strong management and sound business prospects. The fund holds… Read More

Research deferrals add to Gennum’s risk

GENNUM CORP. $5.01 (Toronto symbol GND; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 35.4 million; Market cap: $177.4 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; SI Rating: Above Average) gets 70% of its revenue by making equipment that stores, manipulates and transfers video signals. The other… Read More

ALTAMIRA SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FUND $6.68

ALTAMIRA SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FUND $6.68 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (Altamira Investment Services, The Exchange Tower, 130 King Street West, Suite 900, Toronto, Ont. M5X 1K9. 1-800-263-2824; Web site: www.altamira.com. No load — deal directly with the company) invests mostly in U.S. companies in the telecommunications,… Read More

Outlook is bright for top U.S. tech stocks

Many U.S. corporations have cut their spending on information technology while they wait for the economy to start growing again. At the same time, U.S. consumers are buying less computer equipment as job losses push up the unemployment rate and erode confidence.

International markets have also… Read More